Pond Living is the Place To Be

For the very first time
I live by a pond.

Not in the pond.
I can't swim very well.

Nor right by the pond.
That would be too many skeeters.

Like a block and a half from the pond.
But close enough to see it from my house.

Certainly can see it better
Than Sarah Palin could see Russia.

It's a really a small lake.
Kind of a baby lake, actually.

So I call it a pond.
But don't tell my neighbors that.

People like to live by water.
Maybe it's because we're mostly H2O.

And we feel it pull at us,
Attracting us at a molecular level.

I like to think
That I'm above all that.

I'm not.

A Tale of Two Dorothys Part Deux!

Another weekend at Flying Dragon and two more Dorthys make their appearance. Elizabeth Beck on the left performs Friday night at 7 and Saturday afternoon at 3.  Her and family have been valuable mainstays to the Flying Dragon, and Elizabeth has increased in confidence and ability with each performance.  She was excellent in the comedic role of Lady Jane in our recent production of Young Robin Hood.  Anna Greimel on the right is performing Dorothy on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.  She is another fine, growing talent at our theater.  She came into her own last year playing the Tin Girl in last year's production of Te Wizard of Oz.

So please come out and se these shows!  Even if you've seen it before, or even last weekend, these are our all new casts and all the children have worked hard and deserved to be seen.  See you there!

The Pen and the Crayon: The Writer's Guild Meets the Art Guild

Special painting done for the Writer's Guild done by the multi-talented Leslie Crane.

Last night, The Okefenokee Heritage Center Art Guild had as their program the new Writer's Guild.  We introduced ourselves, starting with Leslie Crane reading from her novel The Life I Left Behind (available from the author) and a poem by Xiomara Vargas.

I then introduced our new guild, how it met, and some of the things we hope to do, including collaborative efforts with other guilds.  I read my recent blog entry, The Curious Artistic Life of T. M. Strait, a humorous telling of youthful attempts to be an artist.

We also had readings by Will Jacques (professional illustrator and horror fan, reading a story about giant rats) and Cody Goode (reading about ghosts and his fellow ghost hunters).Guild member Rem Farr introduced some of the concepts that he has been working on.

We were invited to be the program for this meeting by my friend Julianna Lacefield, and I thank her as it was a great opportunity to introduce our group and gain more support.  There were some delicious snacks including some delicious homemade cookies that Julianna prepared.  I brought some home with me, and I think I will have one this morning - the breakfast of champions.

I got to catch up with Frederick Lester Walker III, a great friend who is an excellent artist and participant in the theater community.  Among other things, he turns action figures into celebrity figures and does a brilliant job - I recently bought an Orlando Bloom figure from him for Alison's birthday.

I also got to meet for the very first time the amazing Boatdock Bill Davis, whom is a facebook friend and we have frequently commented on each other's post.  Bill was an elementary arts teacher in Ware County for many years, and is a great outdoors enthusiast, especially biking.  He is also a fellow traveler with me when it comes to politics - very rare in these parts!

The painting at the top of this post was done by Leslie Crane, a beautiful painting with a saying from C. S. Lewis - You can do anything writing!

How true!  Up next - OHC Open Mike night this Thursday!  Be there if you can!

The Curious Artistic Life of T. M. Strait

I like art.

At one time, I even liked to draw.

My parents had a great art book that I would look through, even as a toddler.  I was struck particularly by a painting of St. George slaying a dragon.  My earliest dreams that I remember, when I was only three or four was of being a knight rescuing a princess from a dragon.

Before I started Kindergarten, I would go to the grocery store with my mother.  She would leave me by the magazines (yes, this was in an age where you didn't worry so much about such things) and there I discovered the amazing world of comic books.  The combination of words and pictures to tell amazing stories.  I convinced my mother to let us buy a copy of Snow White from the Classics Illustrated Jr. line, and eagerly read it over and over again (yes, my mother taught me to read even before Kindergarten began). There was an order form on the back, with dozens you could buy and have mailed to you, for the whopping price of fifteen cents apiece.  I carefully picked out three, including The Dancing Princess and The Frog and the Princess - anything about princesses and being rescued were the ones I wanted.  Waiting the six weeks or so for those to arrive in our mail was the longest wait of my young life.

As I got a few years older, I continued to love comics, branching more into super heroes.  But it wasn't enough just to read.  I wanted to create my own stories.  So I created my own comic books, a whole line centered around Superboy and Krypto, the Legion of Super Heroes, and Plant Lad (the star of my line).  It was starting to dawn on me that my drawing skills were somewhat suspect.  I liked scenes in front of a bank.  I would draw a straight line down the panel, stick a rectangle out front and write the word BANK.  Wahh laah!  I tried to sell a few to friends, but remember this was before copy machines, and I didn't prepare them on mimeograph paper.  So each issue sold was individually hand drawn!  I may have sold less that a half dozen in my entire career, making a sum total of about thirteen cents.

By 7th grade, I was beginning to realize I was more of a writer than an artist.  This was confirmed by my first real "Art" class that year.  One of our projects was to create a pig out of plaster of Paris.  Mine was a true misshapen monstrosity   I got an F for my efforts, a truly humiliating grade for somebody who had at least TRIED to do the assignment.

 But I did not give up.  The next assignment was to draw a picture using other characters from popular culture.  I created a cartoon that combined two popular newspaper comic strips of the time, Eek and Meek (two fierce little mice) and Frank and Earnest (kind of everyman sad sacks).  Eek was throwing something at Frank.  I worked very, very hard on this picture.  I very carefully crafted the images of the four, and set my humorous scene.  It looked good to me.  I was so ready to present to the teacher and get my grade!

She looked at it carefully, and then marked her grade.  C+.  I was mortified!  I told her, "B-but I worked so hard on it!!!"  She looked at me sympathetically, like you might look at one who had flatulence but just medically couldn't help it, and said, "I know you did.  That's why I gave you a C+."

My heart was broken.  And thus died my dreams of combining art and story.  All my efforts since have been concentrated on the word aspect.

But sometimes in my mind, in the deep recesses of my imagination, I still see my stories as explosively illustrated, with me being able to draw more than banks and stick figures with capes.

Who knows?  Maybe someday, with enough time and discipline.  One never knows.  One can always dream!

A Tale of Two Dorothys and Other Monday Musings

Cast two featuring Emma Jacobs as Dorothy.

Cast One Featuring Emily Beck as Dorothy.

It was a wiz of a wizard weekend!  We saw three of the four performances of Flying Dragon's Wizard of Oz.  They were wonderful shows and gave many children an opportunity to shine onstage.  I enjoyed everyone but I have to particularly mention the extraordinary performances of the two Dorothys.  Emily Beck is an outstanding young actress with a very expressive face and a beautiful singing voice.  Emma Jacobs is only 7, but learning very fast.  She is in Benjamin's cast, so I saw her rehearse and get better and better with each practice and performance.  She has many great roles ahead of her.

We are at Glenwood now!  We are living out of a lot of boxes, but progress is being made.  We have moved all but a handful of things from the Acosta rental, and are ready to concentrate on our new residence. My son Doug may be coming this weekend, so we may have to clear enough space in the guest room so that he can at least lay on a blow up bed.

It is raining now, and unlike living at Clark, it doesn't interfere with the Internet. On the other hand, we have not fenced in the backyard, so we have to walk our rain skittish dogs out in the pouring rain until they perform their "magic".

I watched the Oscars again this year, as I have since I could stay up to watch them.  I'm not sure why, as I had seen very few of the movies nominated.  Overall, I thought it was a dull and long telecast.  The host was not that interesting to me, and it was hard to be that excited over who won or lost.  The fact that Marvel's The Avengers was not even nominated kind of soured me on the whole affair. Adele and Streisand sung good, but I have this small problem of being phobic about long fingernails, and I couldn't stop cringing over those.

And now I stare into the maw of another tax season work week.  We are at the mid-way point, but all the means is that you can't see the light from either end of the tunnel.

Until next time,

T.M. Strait

Occupy Glenwood!

This is the Glenwood living room.  Although it is not completely finished, much decorating has been done.   That's a nice rug.  TV works, which is always a plus.

Exterior of Glenwood.  Please notice that the front porch toilets are now gone.

Ding room of Glenwood.  Alison, her mother and Angela Manders have decorated several rooms with antiques and decor.  Some of Alison's favorite antiques are in this room. Her very favorite is not pictured here.  That would be me.

In the kitchen, the dogs await the serving of food and water.  It apparently has been so long for Ellie Mae that her eyes are starting to white and glowy.

Redneck curtains. Hopefully temporary.

Redneck shades.

Some rooms are further along the path to completion than others.  This is the guest room.  My son Doug is coming next weekend.  It should be ready by then.  ......  hahaha!!!

Double Barreling The Wizard of Oz!

Come join me at this afternoon's performance of Wizard of Oz!  Cast one is led by Emily Beck at 3 PM.  Emily is a great talent and gets better and better with each play.  Come see her and all of Cast One today at 3 PM.  LAST CHANCE TO SEE THIS CAST!!!

Cast Two performs tonight at 7 PM.  Dorothy is the incredible Emma Jacobs.  She really steps into her own this play.  Both Karissa and I thought she really did well in everything we asked her to do in Young Robin Hood, and that she would be a great star in the future.  In this play she proves us right!  The play also has my son Benjamin performing as the Doorman and the Guards.  This cast performs tonight at 7 PM and again tomorrow at 3 PM.  Don't miss it!

Four more performances with two more casts next week!

The Sequester Effect Saturday Political Soap Box 55

You cannot budget cut your way out of a recession.  Austerity doesn't work.  It will lead to a longer and deeper recession.

It's not that the budget doesn't need to get under control.  It does. It just isn't helpful in assisting with immediate economic recovery.

So Congress, in it's infinite stupidity, created a series of sequestered cuts that will take place unless it acts otherwise to bring the budget under control.  They stuck a big fat gun to their head and threatened to blow themselves and the country up if "future Congress" didn't do something.  This is a true lunatic Blazing Saddles moment.

This slash and burn approach that will kick in by Friday will hurt everyone in the country.  It will cause havoc with our service and accelerate job loss.  It will weaken our defense (not that I'm not in favor of major defense cuts - just willy-nilly across the board cuts are wicked stupid).  It will start the reversal of the slow progress toward recovery we have made so far.

And my conservative friends, make no mistake about this.  The American people are not fooled this time.  They will place the blame strictly where it lays this time - the Tea Party led Republican Congress.  A party that is becoming increasingly unpopular will become even more so,

As unpleasant as it may be to accept, the only way out of a recession is government spending.  In the short term, money needs to be placed in the hands of those who will spend it.  Food stamps, unemployment checks, tax cuts targeted to the middle class and poor - these are essential.  In the long term we need improvements to infrastructure, research and education spending.  If anyone has a fantasy that there is any other way to do it, it is just that - a fantasy.

I am so sorry that President Obama's predecessor squandered a budget surplus on unfunded wars, unwarranted tax cuts to the wealthy,   giveaways to the drug industry like Medicare Part D, and much more. I am sorry that President Bush Jr.'s economic policies led this nation to financial ruin.  But now is the time to straighten out this mess, aggressively bring a bout a more vibrant recovery and get the country focused on the future once again.  The road to that shining city on the hill isn't paved with dirt and gravel because the Tea Party reactionaries were too cheap to provide a modern highway.

Let's quit moping and move this country into the 21st century!  Time to be leaders!

INTERNET UP!!!

My Internet's back, Baby!!!

More to come very soon but wanted to let y'all know I'm up and running!  High speed Internet in all it's glory!  

It was quite an adventure but after pushing all the buttons we could find, we got ATC out here and our internet installed.  Only took them a few minutes, so I'm not quite sure why it took so long, but that is all water under the spilling bridge now.

Glenwood has been a great place and a nice neighborhood.  We are very quickly getting used to our new surroundings.  We haven't got a backyard fence so we are still walking the dogs plenty, but that has been good for both us and the dogs.

Tonight starts Flying Dragon's The Wizard of Oz.  Four different casts perform this best of all musicals.  Why so many casts?  Flying Dragon strives to give as many children stage exposure as possible. There is no one star at Flying Dragon.  There is a whole celestial firmament of them!

Keep watch, as I hope to return to my once a day posts, and there is plenty to write about!  The insanity of the coming sequester, the Oscars, a story about my dog Spot, plenty about local theater, the exciting new Writer's Guild, fake poems, History of the Trap, Crowley stories and much, much, much more!

Thank you, ATC!

INTERNET DOWN!!!

It's the dark side of the move.

After posting something at least once a day since May (with the exception of our move in mid-December), we may have a slight disruption of activity.

We will keep our high speed Internet.  It has been amazing and one of the best reasons to come back in to the city.  We will not be keeping our cable television.  We will be switching back to Direct TV.  We had hoped that the local cable company would have more Savannah channels but alas, it did not.  Their DVR boxes have been substantially inferior and difficult to impossible to operate.

Direct TV will be at our place tomorrow to install their service.  ATC, the local Internet provider, that does indeed have awesome Internet, is not quite as customer driven. They move at the speed of an unmotivated turtle and it may be the better of a week before they even think about installing Internet at Glenwood.

Meanwhile, I will do what I can.  I may be able to repost some things now and then. I do have Internet on my smart phone.  The only trouble is that my smart phone is smarter than I am, so we'll just have to see how much and how quickly I can learn.  There is also the possibility that if it goes on long enough, I could get to work early and use the connection we have there.  The problem with that is that at this time of year, it very difficult to our early work.

So that combined with February being the shortest month, there probably won't be any activity records this month. Stick with me, though.  ATC should like to make money, so sooner or later you would think it would be in their interests to get us back up and running.

Until next time, whenever that may be,

T. M. Strait

Port Seal Rain Fall

It was a rainy night we came to port
Passing the guarding gryffin
I looked up and it caught me short
You stood at the edge of the bow in

nothing but a  white gossamer gown
revealing your pale white skin underneath
you stared directly out at the port town
your arms held out, together like a wreath

Across the Sea of Separation we had come
Having left Bellar two weeks ago
The stormy waters had left us weary some
But it wouldn't stop my mistress to show

up at this port, this Port Seal.
She would cross all of Barre' if she had to
this for her was all that was real
this dream to find the man LaRue

who took her spirit and then ran away
leaving her cold and empty, her longing eyes
staring out to the Sonzobarian continent where may
be the one who causes her endless sighs

she turns and sees me watching her.
Does she know I am as captured by her as she
is by the one she seeks?  I am her sir
and am devoted to her without need of fee.

But to watch there as she turns to me
Seeing her breasts clearly through the wet
gown that clings so fitfully
and to know they will never be met

with the love she holds for LaRue.
Nevertheless, I am with her, always, by her side
Until she sends me away with a shoo
And though it would break my pride

I would leave
Yes, I would leave
But once alone my tears would flow
My pain would forever grow

And the tears would be greater than the rain that fell
As they were when we came into the port that night
Greater than any abundant well
Greater than any could ever sight

Happy Valentine's Day, Alison! Glenwood is Ready!

Final pre-move in shot of our living room.  

Our hallway, with free ladder.

This is...okay, I don't know where this is.


Congratulation. Alison!  Glenwood is ready for move in and the movers will move our storage unit stuff in there today.  How many couples get a brand new house on Valentine's Day!  Enjoy, and I promise we'll go on a real date soon after we settle in.  Happy Valentine's Day, Alibeth!

Love, T.M.

The Writer's Guild Takes Up Its Pens!

It's official!

The newest guild at Okefenokee Heritage Center has begun!

A dozen brave souls have formed the Writing Knights of the Rectangular Table, and are ready to engage the world in wordsmithery.  A varied group including bloggers, novelists, fiction writers, newspaper writers and columnists, cartoonists, illustrators, nonfiction writers and humorists, were all gathered together to learn, inspire and entertain.

We hope to attract guest speakers, including professional writers, publishers and copyright lawyers.

We are going to pursue grants, and discover and inform about resources available to us.

We will be creating writing contests open to the public at large.

We will be encouraging the reading and presentation of writing samples from members, both to give practice and critical review (in a friendly manner, of course).

We are creating a Facebook page and group, in order to keep each other informed and share writing projects.

And we have a long range goal to create a literary magazine, something that can show the best of the area's writings, art and photos.

So take up your pens, fellow guild members!  It's going to be an exciting journey!

Glenwood Faucet and Flow February 11th

Our one bowl sink with it's faucet installed.  This is one of my favorite pictures of the house so far.

Another row of cabinetry in the kitchen with a stove and range top stuck in the middle of it.  There will be cooking!

In the dining room, an "engineered" hardwood floor was put in place.  Dogs may be doing some skating.

Sir!  The mawster can awaits you!

The Greatest Honor: Martha Davis Award 2013

My son Benjamin Strait beautifully reads a poem in honor of Dads.  It was very well read and quite moving.  I am so proud of my boy.

Chris Jeffords and Beth McCelland sang a wonderful and emotional  rendition of my favorite hymn, In The Garden.  It was my Grandmother Martin's favorite hymn, and every time I hear it, it floods me with memories of her.

This is my very good friend giving a moving speech.  She has  been a wonderful friend to me and my family, and her words touched me deeply.  She is the first friend that I've had in theater that bridged the gap between plays.  It used to be that most of the people that I knew from plays would fade away until the next play that I was in.  She and her family changed all that.

This is me, accepting the award and trying to explain where this community hamwich came from, and of course, doing it in a very hammy fashion.


On Saturday, February 9, I was honored to receive the Martha Davis Award from the Flying Dragon Theatre.  It is an award given for service and contributions to community theater and education.  It was an honor to receive this both because of what the award represented, but also because of what it was named after.  Martha Davis was a member of my church who was extraordinarily intelligent, kind, giving, and a tremendous contributor to her community.  I loved and respected her a great deal.


I want to thank my sister, Carol Easlick, for her surprise contributions to the show, helping to put together an entertaining video, and putting in pictures from my wayward youth.  It helped demonstrate that acting had been in blood pretty much since birth.

I want to thank Dona Bow Kilbourne for her contribution.  The quotes used from her were the biggest surprise and the most moving part of the whole show.  It has been one of the great joys of my life to reconnect with this beautiful person whom was part of my explosive imagination in fourth grade, where I was a Martian and she was a witch.

I want to thank Chris and Tamara Jeffords for all that they have done to bring quality children's theatre to this area.  I know it's not easy at times, with the cost and constant turnover.  But they have persevered, and are continuing to leave a lasting positive impression in the lives of the children that they help.

I have so many more people to thank, but I see by the clock on the wall that the I need to start getting to the thing that pays the bills.  Thank you all who've helped bring theater to life in the Swamplands!

Glenwood Carpet and Counter-tops February 8th

How 'bout them counter-tops   Pretty, eh?  This were my first choice of the ones Alison showed. me.  

We got carpet in the Master!  The door leads into our very dark master bathroom.  We have a toilet in a box, which won't do us much good.

Obligatory living room shot.  Different?  I can't tell.

Carpeting in Benjamin's bedroom,

Alison's world famous one bowl sink.  She really loves sinks this way.  You can lay down more stuff in it.

The beginnings of Benjamin's toilet.  Our plumber is really falling behind.  But I'll try not to make this a negative post, and not comment on all the sub-contractors who are FALLING behind schedule.

Stirring the Melting Pot: Saturday Political Soap Box 54

This is a nation of immigrants.

Wave after wave they have come, all helping to transform, revitalize and improve this land.  America is as exciting and as vibrant as it is because of it's willingness to take in new people, and let our our culture adapt and expand to accommodate  them.

The first generation is very hard working, but may stick as much as possible to their native tongue and culture.  The second generation may know both their parent's language and English, and slowly adopt some more American ways.  The third generation may not even know the mother tongue, and have only a nostalgic view of the ways of grandpop and grandma.  Such is the way and path of each wave of immigrants.

Sometimes this period of transition can be prolonged if a large enough group tends to live together in isolation from others.  But even that breaks down over time, or at least soften at the edges.  

Sometimes there may be crime elements that come over in the early part of the wave.  But that, like any criminal activity, should not be tolerated and broken up.

Immigration reform is about how to make this natural flow that has so benefited this country take place as smoothly as possible. I agree with those who think that a comprehensive approach is best.  No single solution is going to achieve anything.

A fence in some areas might be helpful.  But we cannot create Fortress America.  It goes against everything we have tried to achieve in this country.  I don't want to live in a place whose first instinct is to keep everyone else out, a huge gated community that almost takes on the aspects of a prison.

More border security might be helpful.  I don't think you could beef it up to the point of stopping everybody, but it could be done in a such a way that it is a boon to both sides of the border.

Deportation might be helpful, although we are at record levels of that already.

A path to citizenship is a must.  We cannot kill dreams in this country/  We must leave an opening for those who are willing to work hard and follow a vigorous procedure to obtain citizenship   

There is no reason to take things out on the children of illegal immigrants who have lived here all their lives and know no other place.  The Dream Act is absolutely essential in preserving what the true meaning of America is.

All of these elements of immigration reform are vital.  But to me, they pale in importance to this final thing I mention - we MUST crack down on employers who hire illegals.  They wouldn't come here in large numbers if there were no jobs that employers were willing to give them.  And they want to give those jobs to illegals because they want to pay sub-standard wages. If you just enforce labor laws, increase and strengthen the minimum wage, then the number of illegals will go down dramatically.

I don't like the idea of people being stopped on the street and asked for papers.  I don't mind the idea of people having to show proof of citizenship to get a job.  I don't mind guest worker status as long as they're paid a decent wage.

There is no excuse for paying any person, regardless of immigration status, culture, creed or race, less than a living wage.  If a person can't support a family on the wage, than we need to rethink the whole thing.  We can't have a society where everyone lives like Donald Trump (thank God!), but we must fight for one where working people don't have to live in abject poverty.

So here's to hoping that Republicans and Democrats get together and pass the common sense immigration reforms we need.

And here's to hoping that employers will take a second look at the attitude that it's okay to pay a group of people substandard wages, because somehow, they're different than us and don't have the same goals, dreams and needs as the rest of us.

Catch The Wizard this Year!

8 performances, 4 different cast!  You;ll want to catch this again and again!

This si awful since I don't know everybody's names.  The adult shown is very good and I will try to update soon with his name.  The girl in the white jumper in the top picture is Emma Jacobs, a young actress who showed great promise in Young Robin Hood, and will be one of the Dorothys this year.

Kayla Peacock, the girl in the pink top, is also a rising young star at the Flying Dragon, and will be playing both the Wicked Witch and the Cowardly Lion.

The girl in the upper left is Elizabeth Beck.  She is the daughter of my very good friends Kimberly and Ken Beck,  She will be playing Dorothy in some performances, and is doing very, very well.  The adult in the upper right is Michelle Chancey, a very good singer and someone who has been in invaluable help to the Flying Dragon.

The girl in the lower left is Casey Jones.  I saw her perform the Wicked Witch last night, and she is one not to miss.  She is going to be through the roof awesome!

More of our extraordinary young thespians!

Broken Glasses Lament

I lost a screw that holds one of my glass lenses in place.  Hopefully, I can take them to the eye-care place later today and get them fixed.

How bad is my vision without them?  Not too bad.  It's just hard to see writing that is regular or small print   And numbers as well.  Nothing that wouldn't hurt me in my profession if I wasn't able to see it well.  Perhaps you'll be lucky and I can try to do your tax return before I get them fixed?

Seriously, I found some old reading glasses and can read with them.  I just can't look around from place to place.  Otherwise it makes me dizzy.

How bad is my eyesight?  Not very.  I can see pretty well - just got ruint with up close work, spending too much time reading and with accounting work.  I have to look at dozens of accounting systems a month, from different clients, a lot of it hand written, particularly this time of year.  I almost always wear them because I never know when I'm going to have to or want to read something.

The glasses I have are trifocals, so what you see and how well you see it depends on where you look while wearing them.  Sounds pretty complicated but it works out pretty well.

Is my eyesight getting worse as I age?  Not really.  I took a jog down in my early forties, and there has been little change since.  I think the more you wear glasses, however, the more dependent you become on them.  If I didn't have to rely on them for work, I might give them up for longer stretches and see if I could bring things back into focus. I just have to be willing to give up not seeing things perfectly for awhile, not worry about not being able to read perfectly.

Nah, not gonna happen.

Ripping Good Yarns: Book Lover's Hall of Fame WINNER!

The results are in!

First - a summary of winners from past categories -

Ripping Good Yarns TV Hall of Fame

2012     M*A*S*H

Ripping Good Yarns Movie Hall of Fame

2012  Star Wars

The results of this year's Book Hall of Fame vote:

Receiving no votes:

Cold, Sassy Tree by Olive Burns

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Receiving 7% each:

Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Lee

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Receiving 14%:

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery

Receiving 21%:

The Stand by Stephen King

And this year's winner, with 37% of the vote:

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

An amazing book, encapsulating many of the stresses and strains and charm and glory of Southern life.  Atticus Lee represents the ideal of what a man and a father can be.  The children of Atticus are brought from their primal fear instincts into the light of tolerance and understanding.  It is a great book, with an excellent movie based on it.  And there is also a great play version that I have been fortunate enough to see, but not fortunate enough to be in.

And there you have it.  Three Hall of Fames, each with their initial entrant.  Keep checking in with Ripping Good Yarns for the 2013 votes for TV and movie Hall of Fame.  Meanwhile, reach into your bookshelf or local library and catch up on one of these great books today!

Facebook is a Cornucopia...Like It or Not

I kind of like the wide variety of stuff that I see on my Facebook feed. I like that I have a diverse group of friends that post many different kinds of things.

I have political friends that post many things about the issues of our day.  Most of them are sharing things that they had seen or read elsewhere, but occasionally there is personal commentary as well.  My feed is probably different than most in that I have more liberal posters than conservative.  But I do have some, and I don't mind getting them, even when they're slightly aggravating.  Right now, I'm getting a good number of posts on all sides of the sensible gun control issue (can you tell what side I'm on?).

I have theatre friends who help me keep up to date with the happenings in community theatre around here.  I used to be in plays, get close to people, and then have the play end and not hear from those people again unless I happened to get into another play with them.  Facebook helps to bridge that gap, and I have been able to maintain better friendships between plays.

I have high school friends that I had not been in contact with for over forty years.  It has been a great joy to re-connect and hear what's going on...like a catching up with a story you thought you had long since set aside. The friends that I have acquired don't match up to those who I was close to in high school, but make me wonder how deep in the sand my head was buried.  How much better high school might have been if I had simply opened more.  In some cases, people who I thought didn't like me very well, I have established close bonds with.

I have younger friends, most picked up in connection with the theatre group.  Their enthusiasms and angst comes through pretty loud sometimes.

I have church friends that help keep me up with goings on at our church, and bring a shared Christian communion to my feed.

Sometimes people get aggravated over what they perceive is dominating their feed.  People talking too much about politics, sharing too much about cats, talking too much or too personal about their family and friends, too much about sports, etc.  I for one, although I may do so on the blog, don't over discuss what I'm having for dinner or too much about immediate things happening with the family or gush about Alison.  It's not just my habit.

Yesterday, however, I decided to try to see what it felt like.  I mentioned in a post what I was anticipating for dinner when I got home, and said something nice about the beautiful preparer, Alison.  It got a good number of likes, more than I get from a lot of other things.  And although I'm still not personally inclined to do it very often, it felt pretty good.

I suppose it's possible to run through your friendship list like the Queen of Hearts, cutting off the head (defriending) of anyone who dares to cross a narrow band of rhetorical limits.  But I think if you do, you're depriving yourself of a great experience.

So at least on my feed,  unless you are personally rude and destructive to other people, I won't banish you. Party on, Facebookers!  Keep that variety coming!

Valentine's Day Moveathon and Other Monday Musings

Our movers have been given the date of February 14th to begin the move to our new house.  Happy Valentine's Day, honey!  Here's a new house to live in!

Of course, that depends on the individuals working on the house to continue to make progress. There are many problems with the electrical work, including putting in a range plug for the dryer instead of a dryer plug.  About half of the electric outlets in the house don't work.  We have three old toilets on the front porch and no new ones inside the house.  only about a third of the house has flooring, and the counter-top has yet to be put in.  

There have been the usual delays that you get with sub-contractors, but we have high hopes to be able to stick to that 14th date.

I did not watch the Super Bowl, although Alison spot checked it at times.  With the Internert and Hulu re-posting so many of the ads, you don't really need to watch the game just for the ads anymore.  Alison and Benjamin watched Beyonce's performance and thought it was outstanding,

Alison and I actually got to go to the movies on Friday night.  We saw Silver Linings Playbook.  It was a pretty good movie, but what was nicer was just to be out with Alison.  Mini-review - Two psychologically damaged people warily find solace in each other. And it's got football AND dancing, two of Alison's favorites. I would give it 7 out of 10. Nominated for Best Picture. Is it? With a different cast and less swearing, this could have easily been a made for TV Lifetime movie. So probably not. Both leads are very charming (in a quirky way), and Robert DeNiro as the lead's father, an obsessed Philadelphia Eagles fan, is excellent.

We were out and about in Brunswick Saturday, with a good friend and her two sons, who was kind enough to use her van for our transportation.  Picked up a whole boatload of faucets and ate at Broomelli's, where Alison was able to get her favorite slice of pizza - White, which has feta cheese, broccoli and tomatoes.  Benjamin got Boss Hog, which has all kinds of meat on it.  He says he's going to become a vegetarian like his big brother Doug someday, but he's not quite ready for it now.  I'll say.

I messaged a good friend from high school who was having a birthday, and was happy to hear that things were looking up for her.  I had been feeling down a bit lately, what with tax season and things, but corresponding with her was a great rebalancer.  In updating her about things going on in my life, it reminded a lot of good things going on in my life, and a lot of wonderful people around me.  I sometimes forget about the true miracle of having Alison in my life, and how it's not something everyone has or is found everyday.  I'm not much of a gusher, so you won't hear me talk about it a lot.  But it's there.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Honey Dew Lunch Bunch

"It's a shame 'bout Bobby Ray.  That hurt knee's gonna kill our playoff chances," groused Andy Caldwell.

"Some more sweet tea, Andy?" asked Franny, their waitress.

"Not right now, Sugah," answered Andy, letting roll out of his mouth like it was ...sugar.

The men of the Crowley Round Table were gathered together, ready to spend their lunch hour jawing about football, golf and how liberal atheists were screwing up their lives.  Andy Caldwell, the local State Farm agent was there, joined by his three brethren in lunch crimes.  Well, those three and also Gariton Hollander.

"Crowley ain't been past the first round of the playoffs since '89.  I'm not sure even with Bobby Ray they coulda done any better," said Tony Delco, who worked at his daddy's furniture store.  Tony was a fairly tall man, with muscles and a strongly chiseled chest.  He played football with the Crowley team back in that glory year of 1989.

Rondy Strickland nodded his agreement, ready to bite into his Bar-B-Q burger,  Rondy was a lawyer who worked just down the street with Thomas Cooper.  They specialized in bankruptcy, and divorces.  Rondy himself has seen his won marriage disintegrate a year ago.  But he rebounded fine, and was spending a great deal of time with Thomas Cooper's daughter, Betty.  Rondy was a tiny bit shorter than Tony Delco, but just as muscular and athletic.

The other two members of the Lunch Bunch were from the same CPA firm.  Houston Graves, the very tallest man at the table, but with a thinner frame.  Houston was a tennis champion at college.  He was the son of on of the CPA partners, at the firm of Graves & Robinson.  It was the only multi-person accounting firm in Crowley.  The other man at the table was Gariton Hollander.  He also worked at Graves & Robinson.  He was much smaller than anyone else at the table, frail and one would daresay slightly effeminate.  Gariton was the only one of the five who was not always there.

Two of the men had glasses that hung on plastic necklaces around there necks.  Somehow that struck Gariton as kind of a Southern thing to do.  Not just any Southerner, but those he thought of as "the 10%".
The 10% often correlated with income, but it was more to do with a power structure within a town.  It was having the right family name and connections.  Power was handed down on an almost feudalistic basis, at least that was Gariton's feelings.

Gariton had not grown up in Crowley.  He was actually from Connecticut.  He wound up in Crowley because he had met Daddy Delco's daughter while at school in Athens.  He loved her heart and soul, and when she decided she wanted to move back home, he gladly went with her.

But being the son-in-law of the daughter of one of the 10% families gained only begrudging tolerance, not acceptance.  And much of it was his own fault.  He couldn't get into their discussions.  He couldn't identify with their interests.  Football meant nothing to him.  He didn't golf.  He was a committed liberal, and was one of the few Crowley votes for national and statewide Democrats (there were no local Democrats that ran - Crowly only had Republicans and had as much political diversity as the old Communist Soviet Union).  He was in local community theatre, but that was a hobby that the Lunch Bunch found on a par with a baby gurgling googoo.  Entertaining, but relatively meaningless.  It certainly earned him no respect.

"How's the Compton Park development coming, Andy?" asked Tony.  The Compton Park was a residential development that both Andy and Houston had sunk a good bit of resources into.

"Aw, crap, you know Tony!  Those damn environmental namby-pambys are holding us back.  Encroaching too much on wetlands.  What a crock of sh..."

"More sweet tea now, Andy?" interrupted Franny, just in the nick of time.

"That's the trouble with this country," said Houston.  "Too much regulation inhibiting the progress of the entrepreneurial class.  Choosing some pitiful swamp fly over jobs and the economy!"  Of course, most of the construction jobs went to illegals, but to Andy and Houston that was beside the point.

"Howdy, boys!"  It was the sweet, sing-song voice of Daddy Delco's daughter, Christie Delco Hollander. She gave Gariton a brief kiss, and then smiled broadly at the rest of the table.  Christies was a gorgeous woman.  An inch or two taller than her husband, with long auburn hair and blue eyes that lit up a room.  An athletic body, that of a graceful dancer, and a way of moving that could stop a man's heart.  "So what have y'all been jabbering about this fine lunch hour?  Bobby Ray, I bet?"

And the group just chattered away, just lit up over her presence.  Except for Gariton.  He couldn't help but notice as they talked with such animation, that Christie was resting her arm on Rondy's shoulder.

Well, there was one other person that noticed.  The waitress, Franny Goodkind.  She sadly shook her head.  Looked like the Lunch Bunch might soon be coming to an end.

Festival of Appliances and Cabinets Glenwood February 1st

These are the cabinets in the guest bathroom.  The primary guest is Benjamin.  He will be staying with us for the next  six years or so, and then has a Quickpass back whenever he needs to.

This is the standard shot of the living room.  If you can figure out something new, let me know.

We have a refrigerator!  It doesn't work yet, as the electric plug to it is apparently not operational yet.

We have a stove!  Apparently it's outlet doesn't work either.

We have a washer and dryer!  They would work, had they put in a dryer plug instead of a range plug.

We have a microwave!  It's still hiding in it's box.

We have a dishwasher!  It also is still hiding in it's box.

Invasion of the air conditioning vents!  They quietly line up in preparation to take over the  world.

History of the Trap: May Shadows Part 8

SYNOPSIS:  After being visited in prison by Morgan LaDona Tigh, Lance Martin has agreed to Dr. Duncan's request to detail what happened in the time that Lance is calling "the Trap."  Lance begins his journal by describing the morning before the trap fell, where we learn his father was the Principal of Loren High, that Lance is a Junior, and has a sister named Diane who is a sophomore.  After a couple hours at school that morning, where we see how different his relationship with Morgan is.  We meet Lance's best friend, Artie Pentler, and their gang. Just as Lance is ready to ask Ginny Estill out, the Trap falls, and they witness the horrible death of two P. E. students as they are caught in some kind of electrical storm.  The students soon realize, as April marches on, that the so-called storm is something more, and that they may be trapped at the school and it's grounds for a very long time.  As May starts up, a grizzly murder is discovered.  Mr. Franks, the substitute math teacher is found dead in a janitorial closet. The murder remains unsolved, as Lance's father and staff struggle to come to grips with events.  They decide to schedule more activities for the students to become involved with, including a dance and a TV variety show. Lance slowly learns that Ginny is more interested in Artie than him.

8

It was to be the last night of the cars.  At least in any number.  There they sat occupying the parking lot, in all their glory. Camaros, Mustangs, Opals, Thunderbirds, pick ups and station wagons, little Beetles and a few mighty Cadillacs, even a new Gregor Gazelle.  The decision had been made to take many of them apart and use the pieces to help with the installation of the tunnel. Our resident auto genius, Tom Bodell, had diagrammed their use carefully to the tunnel team.  He couldn't believe he was going to be a part of their dismantling, but if we couldn't get out, the cars were no good to us anyways.

That night several cars were wrecked against the barrier.  They were taken, positioned to zoom past the barrier.  All but one was passenger less, as bricks were used at the last minute on the gas pedals.  All of the cars were instantly zapped and fried, even the one stubbornly driven by Harold Masters.  No one quite knew what Harold was thinking.  His buddies thought he would leap out of the car at the last minute.  If that was his intent, he was far too late.  The next day, the dismantling process began.

Tom Bodell and his team, including Jim Kurrash, started that last day of May.  Pulling metal bodies off with tools from the shop, removing engines and carburetors.  The whole process would take weeks, but it began that day.  That first morning many of us, including myself, watched in awe at the whole process.

Although the temperature was fairly steady, it was warm work, and at some point some of those dismantling cars removed their shirts.  When the tall and lean Tom Bodell removed his, I heard an audible sigh come from Sue Boschman.  She sat on a blanket in the grass nearby, her legs tucked under a pleated tartan skirt.  Behind her large glasses, her brown eyes were as large as saucers.

Jerry Mack came up to me, frail and a half foot shorter than even me.  "Does...does this mean...we don't think we'll ever need the cars again?"

I thought for a moment.  How to answer that without sounding too dispiriting? "Well, I think right now we have other priorities, and we'll figure out about cars later."

Jerry just nodded.  "I think that might be wise."  He stood beside me, looking at the destruction.  He didn't look bothered.  He looked surprisingly content, as if he had reached another level of nirvana.

By noon, most of us had gotten our fill and moved onto other things.  But not Jerry.  He stayed out there the rest of the day.